Smart Cities Connect 2025: Top 5 Learnings from the Leaders Driving Digital Transformation
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From AI readiness to infrastructure modernization, our team left with five powerful takeaways that are shaping how cities move forward.
1. AI Readiness Starts with People, Not Technology
AI was a dominant theme across keynotes and panels—but the most impactful conversations weren’t about tools alone. They focused on how cities talk about AI internally, how they prepare teams for it, and how it integrates with city data responsibly.
The consensus:
AI readiness is less about buying software and more about building understanding, trust, and clear use cases across teams. When staff understand how AI supports, not replaces, their work, adoption accelerates. However, AI does not always equal innovation. Innovation boils down to creatively and efficiently improving existing processes.
2. People-Centric Solutions Are the Real Engine of Innovation
Again and again, speakers emphasized that technology doesn’t drive transformation, people do. The most successful modernization efforts put residents, staff, and community outcomes at the center.
Innovation isn’t only about advanced analytics or automation. Sometimes, it’s about:
- Simplifying outdated processes
- Improving access to information
- Designing systems that work for real human needs
When communities are involved and solutions are built around them, progress accelerates, and sticks.
3. “Yes, If” Beats “No, Because” Every Time
Marketplace’s CEO Chris Foreman’s panel on digital transformation included one mindset shift that stood out:
Move on from “No, because…” to “Yes, if…”
Every panelist shared how they are bringing people along on the journey to digitization—not by forcing change, but by changing how change itself is discussed. This approach opens doors instead of closing them, helping teams navigate security concerns, budget constraints, and legacy systems without stalling innovation.
Digital transformation, at its core, is a mindset shift.
4. The Best Infrastructure Work Is Often Invisible… Until It Fails
Marketplace’s COO, Andrew Watkins, was part of a panel that discussed modernizing public infrastructure, where one truth resonated deeply: People rarely notice what’s working, they only notice what’s broken.
From water and utilities to DOTs, city management, and fiber projects, modernization is happening quietly every day. The real challenge? Helping the public understand:
- Why it matters
- How it impacts daily life
- The long-term value behind the investment
The answer came back to communication and value translation, turning technical upgrades into stories residents can connect to.
5. Common-Sense Innovation, Efficiency & Urgency Drive Real Results
Not all innovation is flashy. Many of the most effective improvements come down to:
- Eliminating unnecessary steps
- Improving cross-department coordination
- Quantifying time saved and efficiency gained
When teams can clearly show how modernization saves time, reduces cost, and improves reliability, it becomes far easier to:
- Secure buy-in
- Justify budgets
- Scale successful programs
Efficiency is no longer a “nice to have”, it’s the foundation of sustainable city operations.
The Real Stars: Government Innovators in the Trenches
Across every conversation, we heard from government employees solving real, high-stakes challenges every day—from optimizing water systems to expanding fiber, maintaining transit, and balancing resident needs with tight budgets and aging infrastructure.
Much of this work goes unnoticed, yet entire cities run because of it.
Looking Ahead
Smart Cities Connect reinforced what we already believe:
Modernization doesn’t happen through technology alone, it happens through people, mindset shifts, and practical innovation.
We’re grateful for the conversations, the insight, and the chance to learn from the city leaders shaping their communities every day. And yes, we’re already excited for next year.
Want to learn more about Marketplace? Connect with a member of our team here!
